Praedicator

Verba

Friday, October 14, 2016 - Friday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time

[Eph 1:11-14 and Luke 12:1-7]

"Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." [Luke]

Two of the broad currents of meaning in the Gospel of Luke concerned the present and the future. The present included the persecution that the community was experiencing. The second, about the future, concerned the danger of putting one's faith in material security instead of in God. Luke repeats the statement we hear so often in the gospels, "Do not be afraid." Much of this worry could be summed up in the question that so many have asked in the midst of suffering or in the concerns of daily life: "Where is God?"

Each year when I visit the Oregon coast, I walk along a path by the ocean which is bordered by thick underbrush that seems alive with sparrows. They remind me on one hand of God's care for the details in creation (Whatever happened to my hairs?) and the ocean on the other side reminds me of the immensity of that creation. It is not easy to let go of the worries, but the sparrows and the ocean do help a lot. A poster I see occasionally has the words: "Let go and let God." The only way I can do this is to let go of my own fears - aging, ministry, health, etc - and pray for serenity. The very big sky and vast plains in West Texas will have to substitute for that ocean. The sparrows, thank God, are everywhere. AMEN